Graphic Elvis: EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

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Created by

Sharad Devarajan • Gotham Chopra

Designed by

Sharad Devarajan

Edited by

Sharad Devarajan • Dave Land • Gotham Chopra

Production & Additional Design by

Mark McNabb

Cover Illustration by

Greg Horn

Slipcase Illustration by

Tony Millionaire • Mukesh Singh

Special Thanks:

Carol Butler, Scott Williams, Robert W. Dye, Jane Terrell, Steven Gibbs, Alicia Dean and Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Additional thanks to Christopher Linen, Cathy Paglia, Robert James and Raju Wolfe

For Liquid Comics

Sharad Devarajan, Co–Founder & CEO • Gotham Chopra, Co–Founder & Managing Partner • Suresh Seetharaman, Co–Founder & President

GRAPHIC ELVIS®

THIS COLLECTOR'S EDITION IS LIMITED TO ONLY 2,500 COPIES WORLDWIDE.

GRAPHINTRODUCTION07

THE ROCK STAR14

BABY ELVIS52

ELVIS THE LEGEND60

ELVIS PRESLEY SHOWBIZ SPY92

ELVIS130

CONTENTS

TM

©EPE,Reg.U.S. Pat.&Tm. Off.

GRAPHICELVIS:LIMITEDCOLLECTORSEDITION,December2011,FirstPrinting,publishedbyLiquidComicsLLC.770Broadway,SecondFloor,NewYork,NY10075.GRAPHICELVIS©EPE,Reg.U.S. Pat.&Tm. Off.AllRightsReserved.Theartworkfeaturedin thisbookis© 2011LiquidComicsLLC.AllRightsreserved.The LiquidComicslogoisTM &® LiquidComicsLLC.Allnames,characters,eventsandlocalesinthispublicationareentirelyfictional.

Anyresemblance toactual persons(living ordead ),events orplaces, withoutsatiric intent,is coincidental.No portion ofthis book maybe reproducedb yany means(d igitalor print)without thewritten permissionof LiquidComics LLCexcept forreview purposes.Printed inChina.Forinformationregardingpress,mediarights,foreignrightsand licensingpleaseemail:[email protected]

ISBN:1935829157 • www.liquidcomics .com

1stEditionDecember,2011• Printedin Canada



G R A P H I C E L V On January 15th, 1971 Elvis Presley stepped up to the podium inside a rather unglamoroMemphis, Tennessee. He appeared nervous, dressed modestly in a black tuxedo and a white shir was the first and only award show he'd ever attended in person. Always humble, Elvis had not e

Grammy Award in person. When Elvis began speaking, his words seem to come out cautiously,opposite of what one would expect since he usually glowed while in front of a crowd no matter thElvis had agonized over the words he would use to accept the honor he was being given by the Ju

Commerce of America for being one of the nation’s Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1

For while he performed hundreds of hit songs written by others during his career, the words he would be his own.

Cue the pin drop silence:

"When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic boI was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero in the mo

every dream that I've dreamed has come true a hundred times…"

Those who kn ew Elvis b est, incl uding hi s young w ife Prisc illa and a small entourage o f frie who were pa rt of the audience t hat nig ht, were we ll aware t hat his words rang true. Desphe was already the world's greatest rock star and had won countless gold records as wellprizes and awards from around the world, it was this award that he would cherish becau

efforts to make the world a better place.

One could assume, in that moment, the familiar superhero-like twists and turns he had experremarkable life came together in way that helped everything make sense.

The greatest comic book heroes are always misfits, a motley crew of sages, seekers, and psychotdream of greatness, and dare to embrace it. Elvis' fascination with the heroes of comic book lo

entire lifetime. From days spent thumbing through secondhand comics as a young boy in Tupelo,kept by his side in the '50s while traveling from one sold-out concert to the next, to the "Taking C

logo he fashioned for himself and his buddies, the king loved comic books and what they re

Elvis realized that true greatness lurked beyond fame and fortune. The margins of his personallike Kahlil Gibran's “The Prophet” and Herman Hesse's "Sidhartha" were filled with scribbled wo"Spirit," and "God." After all, every hero’s ultimate quest is for answers — answers to who we

here, and what it’s all about. Elvis Presley got closer than many.

"All I want to know is the truth, to know and experience God. I'm a searcheI'm all about…"

As the presenters of this original work — a marriage of Elvis' own reflections, quotes, correspon

photos, and memorabilia with original artwork created by some of the world’s leading graphstorytellers, we can attest to having a great admiration for the man, the lore, and the searcher thave the opportunity to listen to his music and interviews, to study the photos and documents in

Graceland, and to immerse ourselves in the magic that is Elvis’ home in Memphis, is to have something truly amazing and almost indescribable.

But even more so, as we approach the 35th anniversary of Elvis' death, to be a part of a celere-imagination of one of modern history's greatest creative icons is an honor of the highe

Our profound thanks to the Elvis Presley Estate, the Presley family, and the millions of fans that h will always be with us.

If it was Elvis' dream to be a comic book hero, then what a gift it is for us to have played somehelping to make that dream come true.

Gotham Chopra & Sharad DevarajanDecember 2011

ARTWORK: M

"When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream that I've dreamed has

come true a hundred times..."

–Elvis PresleyABOVE: PHOTO © ALFRED WERTHEIMER



16

"When I first heard Elvis' voice, I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody, and nobody was going to be my boss.He is the deity supreme of rock and roll religion as it exists in today's form. Hearing him for the first time was like

busting out of jail. I thank God for Elvis Presley." –BOB DYLANARTWORK: GILBERT HERNANDEZPHOTOGRAPH FROM THE ARCHIVES AT GRACELAND

JAILHOUSEROCK

THE ROCKSTARGRAPHIC ELVIS



20

"His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac... It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." –FRANK SINATRA ON ROCK N' ROLL

ARTWORK: STEVE RUDEPHOTOGRAPH FROM THE ARCHIVES AT GRACELANDTHE ROCKSTARGRAPHIC ELVIS

SHAKE,RATTLE &

ROLL



"I NEVER EXPECTED TO BEANYBODY IMPORTANT."

–Elvis Presley



62

On August 27, 1965, Elvis met the Beatles at his home in Bel-Air, bringing together the two biggest super powers in the music industry for a brief few hours. What may have started asan awkward get together orchestrated by assorted handlers, quickly turned into a friendship as the men shared stories and listened to records. The Beatles and Elvis even had a private

jam session that no one at the time thought to record — forever losing one of the greatest moments in music history.

"BEFORE ELVIS THERE WAS NOTHING"–John Lennon

THE LEGENDGRAPHIC ELVISARTWORK: M. S. CORLEYPHOTOGRAPH FROM THE ARCHIVES AT GRACELAND



80

On January 14th, 1973, Elvis graced the stage in Honolulu, Hawaii in what was dubbed the “Aloha from Hawaii” concert. Several thousand were in attendance and cameras wererolling. Later, it was estimated that Elvis' performance was viewed by a global audience of over 1.5 billion people, and was the most-watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in

television history. The concert was seen by more Americans than the number of people who watched the first man land on the moon.

THE LEGENDGRAPHIC ELVISARTWORK: LUKE ROSSPHOTOGRAPH FROM THE ARCHIVES AT GRACELAND

MORE PEOPLE WATCHED ELVIS THAN THE

MOON LANDING



ARTWORK: PAUL POPE102

"FOR EVEN LOVES CROWNS YOU SO SHALL IT CRUCIFY YOU" A handwritten note by Elvis inside one of his many books on spirituality from his library at Graceland.

THE SEARCHERGRAPHIC ELVISPHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARCHIVES AT GRACELAND

Graphic Elvis: EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

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